Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547312
16 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2026 FEATURE Malta's silence as Libya and Turkiye A contested Libya-Turkiye sea border agreement is changing the geopolitical narrative in the eastern Mediterranean. Should Malta remain silent? IT went largely unnoticed in the domestic news cycle and elicit- ed no public reaction from the Maltese Government. But the ap- proval by Libya's Benghazi-based parliament of an agreement with Turkiye, delineating their mari- time border, has significant geo- political implications in the Medi- terranean basin. The agreement immediately raised the ire of Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel and the European Union. They contested the agree- ment's legal validity, accusing Lib- ya and Turkiye of disregarding the sovereign rights of other states. The disputed zone lies in the eastern Mediterranean, to the south of Crete and far away from Malta's own exclusive economic zone (EEZ). And yet, the bilateral agreement and complete disre- gard of third-party rights, should be of concern for a small island state with an continental shelf that has historically been the subject of competing maritime claims by its neighbours, including Libya. According to retired Colonel David 'dp' Attard, former depu- ty commander Armed Forces of Malta, the Libya-Turkiye MOU has strategic implications for Mal- ta's ambitions to exploit its EEZ. "The Mediterranean's relatively confined geography means that the potential maritime entitle- ments of neighbouring littoral states frequently overlap, mak- ing the delimitation of maritime boundaries particularly sensitive," Attard says. A precedent In 2021, the Maltese parliament approved the law empowering the government to declare Malta's EEZ in line with the internation- al law of the seas. Finance Minis- ter Clyde Caruana, who piloted the law and introduced further amendments in 2023, had said Malta's intention was to exploit the vast waters around it. The EEZ is a maritime zone be- yond a country's territorial waters where a coastal state has special rights to explore, exploit, and manage natural resources such as oil exploration. The Libya-Turkiye agreement may not have direct implications on Malta's ambitions but for At- tard the significance lies primarily in its wider geopolitical implica- tions and the precedent it sets. "Bilateral agreements that dis- regard the maritime entitlements of third states can complicate resource exploration and devel- opment, increase uncertainty for investors and create additional sources of regional tension and conflict," he argues. Attard notes that Turkiye pos- sesses one of the strongest navies and air forces in the region and is steadily expanding its military reach in Libya. Countering this regional balance of power is the growing Israel-Greece-Cyprus partnership, he adds. And it's not just offshore oil and gas exploration that may be at stake here but also the passage of critical infrastructure such as KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Turkish navy corvette TCG Kınalıada hosting Libyan officials during a visit to Tripoli in August 2025 before making a second stop in Benghazi where meetings were held with Haftar's eastern-based administration. This was the first time a Turkish Navy warship visited both rival power centres of Libya in a single deployment, marking a new phase in relations between Turkiye and both Libyan administrations. (Photo: Turkish Naval Forces) A map of the Mediterranean Sea showing the respective coastal countries' EEZ and the disputed area in the east A close up of the controversial Libya-Turkiye maritime border agreement in the eastern Mediterranean, showing overlapping claims by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt